Can anyone shed light on this watch?

The only thing that's come up is that Arola is indeed a Swiss brand
AROLA - Alfred Rochat & Fils

And that they modify movements, and are quite known for it:
Alfred Rochat Archives - Grail Watch

The watch below has the broad arrow marking , so which military used this watch?

 

Hi @WatchVaultNYC

Errr...Nobody answered yet [emoji16] ? Can i be the Opening Batswoman [emoji137] ?

Isnt that a Rare Arola Military watch with a Heuer Montreal Dial produced somewhere in the late 70s & early 80s ?
Mer = Mercredi= Wednesday in French

Hmm...The Pheon Or Broad Arrow symbol is property of MOD but I 'm really not sure which MOD but i'm guessing French Air Force

p/s Dont shoot the messenger [emoji14] [emoji379]

 

hi @meganfox17

Unless you knew that information beforehand, it looks like we did the same internet search

I found only 2 online references to this specific model, and I'm not even sure one was not a copy of the other. The MOD Broad Arrow and French day wheel is a bit mysterious.

I did see the Swiss Guards watch (which is incredibly awesome). And saw other Broad Arrow models in a German forum. So indeed there is probably some military connection.

A bit or research or Arola, it looks like they are a small company in the Vallée de Joux, and actually modify movements. So an interesting company. I would buy a watch like this if they actually worked on it, but the layout of the dial suggests this is a bone stock 7750??

 

If the Broad Arrow is an MOD symbol, and the date wheel is French, then the connection is .. NATO? Which countries in 1970s-1980s NATO are french speaking?

France, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg..

Or maybe I'm just too lazy - shot Arola watches an email and asked them directly

 

Hello @WatchVaultNYC

Hi Guys [emoji137]

Yes Sir. The confusion arises because the Broad Arrow logo is only identified with Great Britain & the Commonwealth nations unless.......

I have an interesting Theory.
Lets Assume Seller was telling the truth. Many Anglo-French Defence & Security Military treaties/ pacts were signed between London & Paris since post WW 2 upto this Day. Remember these Arola Military watches were produced during the rule of Great Britain's conservative Government of Prime Minister Margerat Thatcher (1979-1990)

Could it be that the Iron Lady herself ordered the Secretary State of Defence in the late 70s & early 80s , Mr Francis Pym & subsequently Mr John Nott to present gifts to their French Counterparts like a batch of Limited Edition Arola Military Watches of the British Commonwealth in recognition of French contribution to the Nato alliance &...Ok.....This is maybe far fetched... maybe....silly...but....not far from the truth ...i suspect UK gifted small batches of luxury brand Swiss watches to High Ranking French military officials....UK wanted France to Keep the F●●● Out of the 10 week Falklands Wars in 1982.....!

Oh Yeah...And the Iron Lady instructed her Defence Secretory to keep the
" Bloody date wheel in French !!! " [emoji14]

The French Air Forces/Navy/Armed Forces love their watches & have such excellant taste... arguably with Britain the two strongest Nato powers....the France MOD is the de facto recipient of the Arola Military watches. So the watches were ACTUALLY GIFTS from London NOT STANDARD FRENCH MOD ISSUES.. Do you get it ?

Now Lets Assume Seller Was Lying....
That vintage Arola French military Aviator's chronograph was sold on ebay a few yrs ago.The Seller was quoted as saying " This rare watch was issued in limited numbers to some branches of the French Armed Forces....."

Now just wait a Cotton Pickin' minute !! Did he just say Arola Military Fleiger chronographs to the French Armed Forces ??? Soooo....We are suppose to believe Arola watches were randomly
" redistributed " to high ranking French Military Ground Force Officers with high connections.....Really ?

I'll tell another thing Sir. My favourite Vintage Military is the RAF53. @JimLnOz can testify to that ! The Broad Arrow on a RAF53 stands proud almost Victorious. The broad arrow on the Arola dial looks shy almost apologetic , now i'm more convinced they were not Military Issued

 

OK, should I file this as "don't believe everything you read on the internet"?

I found these pictures with the "broad arrow" on Arola watches - looking at the symbol closely, it does not look like a broad arrow.

Could it be that the symbol is actually the AROLA logo? I mean, it's also always positioned on top of the AROLA text

In that case, all of the "French military" stuff you see about these watches on the internet is made up and essentially.. bull$#!+.

I think we both came to the same conclusion independently with different observations - not a military watch

 

Never heard of the brand, though I do have positive associations with areolas.

 

The OP watch is a 7750 in a generic case/bezel/dial layout.
The moon phase version is obviously not an MoD watch, and hence I take the mark as being the logo of the company.
Based on the lume and design I would guess late 80s?

 

Funny how years ago some random Ebay seller in HK will make a claim that his watch has french military heritage, with almost nothing to back it up, with hindsight the reason clearly being to raise the selling price, and then it gets picked up in forums and the unsubstantiated claim somehow now has the weight of fact:

http://www.ebay.com.hk/itm/221743476711Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

When to me now, clearly the pheon-like symbol is the AROLA logo

 

".....I found these pictures with the "broad arrow" on Arola watches - looking at the symbol closely, it does not look like a broad arrow.

Could it be that the symbol is actually the AROLA logo[/B]? I mean, it's also always positioned on top of the AROLA text...."
________________________________________

Sir
It's difficult to say if Arola coincidently had a similar logo but of course it's easy to confirm with a little research.
Have you even seen Britain's WW2 BSA
( Birmingham Small Arms ) markings ? BSA company was famous for " Bullet" motorcycles & Airborne Folding Paratroopers bicyclesCheck Out the "Broad Arrow" designThat's BSA LJ air rifles balancing at the apex

 

I have an Arola watch as well and did find a website that indicated they are still in business, or were as of 2017 when I saw it. My watch is not branded but the watchmaker I purchased it from also shared a screensaver of the same watch with branding that was for sale on eBay. Mine looks like a dive watch and has mood and tide phase indicators. It's beautifully made with an A. Schild 5206 automatic movement that was modified in house. Here's a few pics.

 

Here's the Arola website.
http://arola.watch/index-en.html

 

I wondered how long it would take for someone to pick up on that!

 

cool bike

That is a beautiful watch